The Rec Center #445
Hello everyone! This week we have articles about a Yu-Gi-Oh loving Olympian and ongoing bigotry in the Bridgerton fandom, some gorgeous fanart for the film I Saw the TV Glow (which I HIGHLY recommend watching ASAP if you haven’t seen it yet), and multifandom fic recs featuring men yearning (were you aware that men yearn!?). — Elizabeth
new stuff
“Olympic Athlete Keeps Bringing Yu-Gi-Oh Cards To His Races—And Winning” by Moises Taveras at Kotaku
This week you may well have seen gifs of a U.S. Olympian posing with Yu-Gi-Oh cards on the racetrack. Here’s an explainer—including some cute backstory about his friendship with a Naruto-obsessed shot putter.
“‘Sorry, we don’t want lesbians’: Bridgerton’s problem with racism, homophobia and body-shaming” by Michaela Makusha at The Guardian
“But for all that Bridgerton shows that making this genre inclusive is a good thing, it can feel as though it comes at the cost of the wellbeing of other people of colour—the actors. Do I want that to be the price of inclusivity?”
“what i’m doing about alice munro” by Brandon Taylor
This past weekend Andrea Skinner, the daughter of Alice Munro, published an essay about being sexually abused by her stepfather, who Munro stayed with despite knowing what had happened. Amidst a whole lot of hand wringing about “what do we do if we liked Munro’s work” responses, Brandon Taylor’s piece—which, further content warning, also goes into his own childhood sexual abuse—is so, so good, very incisive and clear-eyed. While not specifically about fandom, we felt it was worth including here because it really pushes at the often stagnant “art vs artist” conversation that’s so core to fan conversations.
if my king suddenly employed an advisor called gríma wormtongue i think i’d have some concerns
— Cat Elgarrista (@cat_elg) July 8, 2024
older stuff
“Trouble Sleeping? Meet the Legion of Fans Who Drift Off Every Night Watching ‘Frasier’” by Claire McNear at The Ringer
Inside the subreddit r/Frasier_Sleepers, a fan community united by their love of falling asleep to Frasier. (Who doesn’t love that!?!) Pair with the incredible bit about Frasier-watching in this interview with I Saw the TV Glow director Jane Schoenbrun—Crane Crew, this is our moment!!
tumblr & beyond
I Saw The TV Glow fanart by cherryysocks
ok wait THAT’S the origin of the “poor little meow meow” meme??
honestly we would’ve questioned this too.
“if they made supernatural now it would be like six episodes on apple tv and glen powell would be in it. so count your fucking blessings.”
we regret to inform you that iwtv fandom has anointed a new fannish pilgrimage spot.x
fanfiction
Perhaps you’ve seen references on social media this week to men yearning (if you haven’t, genuinely, don’t ask lol). If we’re talking about men yearning, we must, of course, turn to arguably the greatest body of men-yearning art ever produced: fanfiction. We’ve got a multifandom list of men yearning—or as we more often say in the fic world, pining. (Are these subtly different things? Well, you get the gist.) Thanks so much to everyone who sent in a rec! — Elizabeth
“you, through half-shut eyes” by brawlite. 8K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Stranger Things; Ship: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Recced by: thesalad-days
Backstory: Before Steve/Eddie came onto the scene, Billy/Steve was the ship du jour for Stranger Things. In this modern AU, they’re on a summer vacation in California and mutually pining away.
Rec: The summary is “two parts sugary sweet summer vibes, one part snarky Instagram stories, and three parts mutual pining.” It’s just the perfect balance of funny, sweet, and hot, as perfect as a popsicle on a hot summer day.
Content warnings: N/A
“For A Good Time, Call” by ScarlettStorm. 171K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: The Untamed; Ship: Lán Zhàn | Lán Wàngjī/Wèi Yīng | Wèi Wúxiàn
Recced by: mischief
Backstory: The Untamed is a Chinese live action drama based on a xianxia novel. This story is a modern AU, and honestly requires very little canon context.
Rec: Come for the smut (ha), stay for the character growth, delightful humor, and the true OTP: any “Untamed” character/going to therapy.
Content warnings: The author helpfully created a detailed list of content warnings here
“my reputation’s never been worse (so you must like me for me)” by euphrasiefauchelevent. 92K words, rated Mature.
Fandoms: Formula 1 RPF, F1 2021 (Video Game); Ship: Devon Butler/Aiden Jackson
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Formula 1 is the highest class of single-seater motor racing; F1 2021 is a video game in whose story mode you play as rising star Aiden Jackson and meet his long-standing rival Devon Butler. In this fic, the two rivals are both closeted gay men; when Aiden comes out, Devon makes a public comment that’s perceived as homophobic, and their PR teams' solution is that they pretend to date and cast the comment as teasing. What could possibly go wrong?!
Rec: I’m such a sucker for a fake-dating-plus-pining fic, and the characterisation and pacing of this one is just sublime. You don’t even need to have heard of the video game to enjoy this one (although a little F1 background is helpful), and though real drivers do appear to varying degrees, this isn’t quite RPF proper (it’s not my cup of tea usually and I had no issue). The author even has an accompanying annotated playlist!
Content warnings: Injuries and accidents typical of the sport
“A Passion for Mushrooms” by Chrononautical. 90K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: The Hobbit; Ship: Thorin Oakenshield/Bilbo Baggins
Recced by: Nicole
Backstory: Most fans deny the deaths at the end of The Hobbit. Instead, this follows a world where Thorin and the others did not die, and instead live happily under the mountain. Bilbo, the sole hobbit on the quest, wants to stay with them.
Rec: This entire fic revolves around assumed one-sided pining due to cultural misunderstandings, and is a great exploration of Bilbo, Thorin, and the various customs of Middle Earth.
Content warnings: N/A
“restless in my mind dies out when you’re right here” by spiritsontheroof. 18K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Top Gun Maverick; Ship: Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw/ Jake “Hangman” Seresin
Recced by: anon
Backstory: Rivals to lovers pilots who just finished a mission and head out to a family ranch for a break.
Rec: This story is cute, fluffy, with a touch of angst, so much pining!! and all the family feels.
Content warnings: N/A
“A Ghost Story” by emmbrancsxx0. 258K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Supernatural; Ship: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Recced by: Charlie
Backstory: Castiel Novak has haunted his family’s estate for 150 years, awaiting the return of his lost love. The answers to their reunion may be hidden in the forgotten memories of Dean’s former life—but sometimes the truth is better left buried.
Rec: Haunting, emotional and mind bending time slip story explores what makes you you and what’s worth waiting for.
Content warnings: Suicide attempt, hanging, grief, depression, period-typical homophobia
those sports animes make sports look so cool. normally when i pass the ball to my homie its in complete silence maybe i say their name. but in the sports anime its “my father died and no one was there to play catch with me. and then you appeared like a dandelion in the spring”
— reformed kdad🆓🇵🇸🔻 (@hoshiumisexy) July 9, 2024
FINAL THOUGHT
PSA for horror fans: Next Tuesday I’m delivering a Zoom presentation about the history and cultural impact of summer camp horror movies! It’s part of a three-day lecture series for Atlas Obscura (the other two are about stargazing and befriending wildlife), so this is aimed at the presumably quite niche demographic of people who like to pay for Zoom lectures on hyper-specific topics.
And for everyone else—have a great weekend! — Gav